SINGAPORE: New attractions are being planned for Pulau Brani, similar to Universal Studios Singapore on Sentosa, announced Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (Aug 18).

The island, currently home to Brani Terminal, will be set aside for “fun and recreation” as part of the Government’s plans to remake Singapore’s Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW), he said in his National Day Rally speech.

Mr Lee added that a resort could also be built on Pulau Brani, with land set aside for the labour movement.

SINGAPORE: Climate change is one of the gravest challenges the human race faces and Singapore is already feeling its impact - which is likely to worsen over the next few decades, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (Aug 18).

“Climate change may seem abstract and distant for many of us, but it is one of the gravest challenges facing humankind,” said Mr Lee in his National Day Rally speech.

The Earth’s average temperature has increased by 1 degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial times over 100 years ago, pointed out Mr Lee.

This is a result of more carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere due to of human activity. The gas builds up, traps heat from the sun, causing the planet to warm up.

“One degree Celsius doesn’t sound like much, but it is very significant,” Mr Lee said. “Furthermore, temperatures are continuing to rise, faster and faster.”

SINGAPORE — The unusually dry spell in Singapore has led to a sharp increase in the number of vegetation fires in the first six months of this year, reaching a three-year high.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said 555 vegetation fires were reported in the first half of 2019, a 56 per cent jump from 356 in the first half of 2018 and an even bigger increase from 100 in the same period in 2017.

Earlier this week, a blaze broke out near East Coast Park (ECP), affecting an area about the size of two football fields.

The incident saw about 50 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles including five fire engines, one red rhino and two supporting vehicles deployed, said SCDF.

TODAY takes a closer look at the causes of vegetation fires, why they are on the rise and what preventive measures are being taken to curb them.

A bold vision for how plastics are produced, used and reused, not just how much is recycled per se, is what will move the needle on our plastic waste, says University of Denver’s Jack Buffington.
Jack Buffington Channel NewsAsia 18 Aug 19;

DENVER, Colorado: Minster for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli highlighted in Parliament in early August that while 60 per cent of the nation’s waste generated is recycled, Singapore must continue building its recycling capabilities.

“NEA is currently studying e-waste and plastics recycling solutions and technologies available in the market, and assessing their suitability in Singapore,” he said, suggesting that Singapore has a recycling problem.

But this focus on improving recycling rates obscures the real problem surrounding waste because the intuitive policy response is to focus on marginally increasing recycling rates, where the gains are unclear.

SINGAPORE: This week marked the end of a long wait for Singapore to stop the sale of ivory and ivory products and a victory for those working to put this in place.

Over the last six months, Singapore authorities seized an unprecedented amount of 38 tonnes of pangolin scales and almost 10 tonnes of elephant ivory worth more than S$170 million - with some close to the largest seizures the world has seen.

Led by the National Parks Board (NParks), these acts of enforcement were a true testament of the country’s zero-tolerance to illegal wildlife trade.

Just two days after the most recent seizure of 15 baskets containing 815 birds over the National Day weekend, Singapore announced the latest highlight of our fight against illegal wildlife trade: An ivory ban.

JOHOR BARU: Residents in Kampung Acheh, Pasir Gudang here are worried as the water in Sungai Kopok, which is an important source of livelihood for them, has turned black and is smelly.

The residents also claimed that the condition of Sungai Kopok, which is connected to Sungai Kim Kim and Sungai Daing and once home to shrimps and crabs, worsened following the chemical waste pollution of Sungai Kim Kim in March.

Village head Othman Adon said the 15km-long river was believed to be contaminated by waste discharged from nearby factories.

JOHOR BARU: A total of 298 wire snares and 23 illegal camps set by poachers to trap animals, especially tigers, were discovered in jungles in Johor from January to July this year.

The discovery was made during a boots on the ground programme called Ops Belang, said state Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director Salman Saaban (pic).

Ops Belang, which was started by the government to protect tigers and their habitat as well as to combat poachers, is carried out in collaboration with the Johor Forestry Department and Johor National Parks Corporation.“We know where their hotspots are as we found many of the snares around the Panti Forest Reserve and Endau Rompin National Park during our patrols under Ops Belang, ” he said yesterday.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia has sealed parts of palm oil and timber concessions owned by 10 companies on Borneo island after a spate of forest fires, authorities said on Thursday, warning those involved in forest burning would be severely punished.

Indonesia is under pressure to end slash-and-burn clearance of land, often on plant palm and pulp plantations. The practice caused devastating fires in 2015 that spread a choking haze across most of Southeast Asia.

The disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) recorded 1,092 hot spots as of Thursday, the highest since the 2015 fires, and at least six provinces on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo have declared an emergency.

About 200 hectares (494 acres) of land had been sealed in Borneo’s West Kalimantan province, the environment ministry said.

Warning letters were also sent to 58 plantation firms with hot spots indicating fire or a high risk of fire, said Rasio Ridho Sani, the ministry’s director general of law enforcement.

Bintan, Riau Islands (ANTARA) - The Bintan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) recorded that wildfires have ravaged some 1,500 hectares of land in the Riau Islands Province over the past eight months, and 90 percent of them were caused by slash-and-burn practices.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo reiterated on Friday morning that Kalimantan Island would serve as a host for Indonesia's new capital city.

“At this historical moment, in the name of Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala , I'd like to ask permission and support from the members of House of Representatives, respected members of the country, and the people in Indonesia to move the capital city to Kalimantan Island,” President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said during the state of the nation address.

Semparuk Police in Sambas regency, West Kalimantan, confiscated 1,340 turtle eggs allegedly being smuggled by a passenger of the KM Sabuk Nusantara 38 vessel during an operation in Sintete Port in the regency.

The turtle eggs were carried by a passenger identified as N, a resident of Sedau subdistrict in the province’s Singkawang city, Semparuk Police chief First Insp. Aswin Mahwan said on Thursday.

Authorities launched the operation on Wednesday after they received information from local people that the KM Sabuk Nusantara 38 would arrive in the port and one of the vessel’s passengers was bringing turtle eggs.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) said that based on the 2014 data, the population of Bondol eagle (Haliastur indus) is only 18 in Seribu Islands District, Jakarta Special Region.

"The data is from our latest research carried out on several islands out of the existing 87 islands (in Seribu Islands District) in 2014," JAAN Chairperson Benfika said on Kotok Isle, Seribu Islands, on Sunday.

BANGKOK: A sick baby dugong whose fight for recovery won hearts in Thailand and cast a spotlight on ocean conservation has died from an infection exacerbated by bits of plastic lining her stomach, officials said on Saturday (Aug 17).

Mariam washed up in shallow waters off southwestern Thailand months ago and photos of her nuzzling playfully next to rescuers quickly went viral.

The discovery soon after of another orphaned dugong brought the sea cows celebrity status, the attention of a Thai princess - who named the second one "Jamil" - and round-the-clock webcasts giving viewers a front-row seat to feedings and treatment.

But Mariam died just after midnight after going into shock and efforts to resuscitate her failed, Chaiyapruk Werawong, head of Trang province marine park, told AFP.